SouthernRegionSteam

Sounds like a lot of hard work and dedication has paid off - many congratulations!

That's very kind, thank you, Huw. I'm just fortunate to be able to do what I love; whilst also hopefully offering advice from my experimentation - both successes and failures!

The fact that people enjoy my work is humbling, and whilst it's of course amazing to be recognised for the hard work I put into it, it's always been about sharing passion for the hobby and any knowledge gained; often helped by those willing to also share their advice on the forum and elsewhere.

I'm indebted to a lot of people, not least BRM; who have pretty much taken me under their wings and not only guided me, but also allowed me free reign to be creative. As someone who is very introverted, I've often needed quite a bit of persuasion and encouragement!

I'll probably get a gentle ribbing for being so soppy, but it is all true!

Fair enough!
No idea what device you are using, but I like it on desktop/PC because of the ability to preview content and images without leaving Unread Content. Means more time saved as I can instantly see if it's a post that may interest me. Similarly, I now visit threads I wouldn't have before; because of what I've seen in the expanded view.

See, told ya!:

Note the hastily scrawled annotation when I realised what I had created. 😆 All it needs now is a bobbly lid-shaped bit on top...

I don't know what you mean...  (last paragraph in that post)

Joking aside, the cake can certainly be arranged! Thinking about it, assuming @AY Mod is going to the SWAG do, perhaps he might suggest a cake that I could make for him as a token of thanks? I was going to make some for the rabble anyway, but a bonus cake just for Andy would make it hard for him to say no, right? (Going off the assumption that he can keep it away from prying eyes... not saying who of course...). My cookies went down well at Ally Pally, just sayin'!

Thanks for the thoughts everyone!
I'm still on the fence about it, particularly as I've done some videos for BRM lately where I've referenced my RMweb name at the beginning (as well as my real name, of course).
That said, I am more at ease with the knowledge that if I do change it, it will not be the huge problem I originally envisaged!

I was about 15 when I first joined; so I suppose it's no wonder I didn't chose my real name at the time. Now though, it feels really silly! Trouble is, I feel like I'm stuck with it given how long I've had it for; to change it now would possibly cause a fair amount of confusion...

If you click on the "Browse" tab at the top, then on "Blogs", there's a link near the top (just above the list of blogs) that'll say "Create a new blog". It's quite hard to see as it's in faint grey font!

I've got no problem understanding that there will be no need for them on the modern railways, and that everything in business is done to "save money" and if something doesn't make "business sense" then you get rid of it. But that doesn't mean all of them should be demolished, nor important history should be tossed away overnight in the hope no-one notices that all that's left by morning is a concrete slab 

I also find NRs approach to it... somewhat bullish and secretive. Maybe that's just me though...

Granted, you do raise an interesting point about the lever frames being an integral part of the box; I had not realised this was the case, but it does make sense and I can see how lever frames would be particularly difficult to remove, but equally it has been done in some cases.

You're quite right of course, BR having demolished an estimated 100 signal boxes per year (although it doesn't say for how many years, though in 1900 there were around 10k, and by the end of Beeching it was said to be around half that figure left. That said, NR is on course for 50/year I believe. So whilst not quite as monumental as BR, I still feel to leave 26 of only "the most significant" is a tragic waste of history and beautiful architecture (for the most part!).

So yes, there is a precedence, but to practically decimate 100+ years of history overnight (literally!) is something I can't comprehend.

Maybe I'll start a topic, as I think it is something that should be talked about. I do agree that sentimentalism is something that is both subjective and hard to justify expense, but to leave little trace of history is, to me at least, very sad indeed.

Sure. A public body should try and save money where possible, and a signal box is a small building that will be rendered obsolete by ROCs (Apparently! I don't even want to think about what happens during a failure of an ROC or 2, but that's another matter entirely...). I also understand NR purposefully got 26 boxes listed before they started their demolition sweep, so fair play on that front I suppose. What I cannot understand however is the wanton destruction of some very nice boxes, especially given ones that have had large public interest, and even given parties who have tried to save them. The usual excuses being "it's unsafe to leave a disused box", and "if left they are a target for vandalism". Of the ones I've looked up this morning, quite a lot look to have been in a very well-maintained state, some even with fresh paintwork up until their demolition.

I'm all for progress, but demolishing virtually every single box is extreme. And sure, BR demolished 100 a year in the last few years, but at least they left some of the local history intact, by this rate there'll be sod all left of historical importance. Anyway... this is getting too long for a status update! 

Excellent, I'll try and pop along if I can.
Yes, Discord is absolutely fantastic; especially considering it's free and is actually a very competent VOIP program unlike Skype!

Sounds good! You're wise only to do a few games; I had originally planned to swap every couple of hours, but soon realised this was neither practical, nor fun to watch.
If I'm able to, I might try and pop in for a little bit; what time do you plan on starting?
Oh, and yes; it was very fortunate that I was able to mute his microphone. I had set up a custom Discord server just for this purpose so that I knew I could control things in case something like that happened!

Good luck! I did the same a couple of years ago.
Managed to do the full 24 hours, but 1 hour was me being completely silent having chosen a game that was not exactly fast paced!
I didn't fall asleep, but I was certainly close to doing so at one point (my buddy did however, and I ended up having to mute his microphone as he started snoring!)

Quite agree! It was one of the reasons why I posted less often on here as I'd liked; I love the blog format, but found the lack of integration meant views were a fraction of what layout topics would achieve. I'm excited to start posting now! Thanks again for all your hard work Andy - it really is appreciated by most!

Interesting, thanks Pheaton, that might be worth checking out, although I did clean it out not long ago.

PC case has loads of airflow, loads of space and all the fans are working in the correct directions.

Win10. That's the thing, nothing is running higher than 4% CPU - even at bios its 84 degrees C. I can only hope its a faulty temperature sensor.

A lot of it is just common sense, but you need the real life examples now to back up your explanations - hence the case studies.

If it's similar to what I did probably about 6 years ago, case studies are very useful things to revise! Good knowledge of them certainly help me back then. Good luck!

Under "Articles & Reviews" at the top of the page, then click on Layout Articles

Haha yeah, that used to be my problem!

Well that was a piece of cake!

Apparently saying the name of the object you have lost out loud helps you to find it... although shouting "PRINTER INK" out loud may gain you some funny looks!

Except.. I'm doing it to myself